Catching up

Catching up. Do we every catch up? My answer is "probably not," but I'll still attempt to catch up just a bit here on my blog.

First of all, I have an almost-two-year old son! I used to internally roll my eyes when people said "oh, they grow up so fast," but seriously, they grow up so fast. Right now I'm in the process of planning Jude's second birthday party at the Henry Doorly Zoo. He seems to really love animals and we thought it would be a lot of fun for our friends and family. I'm hoping to get our invitations in the mail next week because his party is at the end of April. I love a good theme, so naturally, we're going with a zoo animal theme. A few weeks ago Jude's Montessori school was closed for staff training, so he and I spent the day at the zoo. We had an unfortunate run-in with a super-loud monkey, so I'm hoping any of the memories from that are gone by the time his party rolls around. I have brought up the zoo monkeys a couple times and he starts saying "no no no" and hugging himself. Sorry, little buddy!

Most of my friends and family already know this, but I have been working on my master's degree over the past couple years. I started out going full-time, but once I had Jude it was just too much. I was working a full-time job and going to school full-time. So, now I am working full-time and going to school half-time. I have no idea when I will finish, but completing my master's has been a goal of mine for several years. I'm really blessed that my husband is supportive of my continuing education. Late last year I had a practicum and the hours involved were killer. My husband was seriously super-dad, taking great care of Jude on the weekends and several week nights while I worked. This term just started and will end this summer.

We took a trip to Colorado in February and visited Copper Mountain and Vail. Scott and I had a wonderful time with Jude. Traveling was fun before kids, and I'll be honest--I wasn't sure how traveling would be after kids. It's different, and more challenging, but good. Experiencing different things through your child's eyes is magical. Before we had Jude, Scott and I always said that we wouldn't be the type of people who stopped going places because they have kids. And I'm really proud to say that we've been able to keep that promise to ourselves. However, you get really skilled at distraction, making up songs and games, hauling bags and supplies like a pack mule and teamwork.

Both Scott and I are making a better effort to eat healthier foods and exercise more. I started exercising at the YMCA again and it feels good. I'm in terrible shape compared to where I was when we moved to Omaha (and 45 pounds heavier!) but I'm working at it. One day at a time.

I'm usually someone who dislikes warm weather, but this year I'm really looking forward to summer. I can't wait for fun at the splash park, meals on the deck and time spent outside. And I'm hoping to blog more, too. I really enjoy writing and blogging, but over the past couple years, I've been doing so much writing for school and work that writing for pleasure has taken a back seat.

So that's it for "catching up." This week is Holy Week which is special to many people, including to me as a Catholic. Whether or not you celebrate Holy Week, I pray that you are blessed this week.

Kelly